Cemetery space is becoming very limited. Many of the cemeteries that were established years ago have reached or will shortly be reaching their maximum capacity. In most cases it is extremely difficult to expand existing cemeteries since the adjoining land has either been dedicated to other uses or the cost of the land makes such use for cemetery purposes unreasonable. Further, governmental entities have imposed stringent requirements before a new cemetery can be opened. The demand for cemetery space remains substantial but the amount of available space is decreasing drastically.
The business of cemetery operation is traditionally been heavily labor oriented, particularly with the opening and closing of the grave sites. However, with increasing labor costs there is an increasing demand for mechanization of such operations by using relatively heavy equipment to reduce the time and manpower required in cemetery operations. However, the conventional cemetery sites with underground crypts and burial vaults have not been designed to carry the weight of heavy mechanized equipment. Where such structures are currently used the labor and operations must be carried out by light equipment or by entirely manual operations. This can substantially increase the overhead cost for a cemetery operation.
In view of the above limitations of decreasing available land and increasing labor costs, there exists a need for a lawn crypt structure which can provide a relatively high density of burial plots while permitting the use of heavy mechanized equipment to reduce labor requirements as well as the time required to open and close grave sites.